More and more people are beginning to recognize the great potential for job creation, private sector development and support to vulnerable populations microfranchise has. With that in mind I was asked to help moderate and contribute to this year’s Foromic panel titled Entrepreneurship Opportunities in Microfranchising. The microfranchise model enables low-income individuals to own and operate a ready-made “business-in-a-box,” utilizing proven strategies and an established brand from a corporate, franchise partner.

Reality in Guatemala, as in many other countries in the region, is hard. Poverty levels in rural areas are very high, which combines with a lack of sustainable income to become the recipe for and main cause of a reduced quality of life. When the gender ingredient is added to this daunting formula it becomes explosive, and for indigenous women things are complicated even further. But it does not need to remain so. A trio of Guatemalan women has been working for almost 20 years so that this vicious circle becomes a virtuous one.

I was really looking forward to this trip to Guatemala. I had been there before on several occasions, and so I knew what to expect in terms of travel, roads, weather and of course, coffee cooperatives. I´ve also been on dozens of due diligence missions during my years at the Bank, traveling all over the region to check in on projects we have funded or are considering funding. But this visit promised to be different. And it sure was.